


On this day in history

by icywind



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, This is a day late but I have a good excuse, Winterhawk Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 06:55:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6971683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icywind/pseuds/icywind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky makes a surprising discovery when he and Clint are trapped in a cave-in while on a mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On this day in history

**Author's Note:**

> This was mostly written by hand while at work. I had wanted to do something for soulmark day but my laptop died last week which made that rather difficult. Then, on my daily work rotation yesterday, the 'on this day in history the Brooklyn Bridge opened to traffic' factoid grabbed hold of my brain and said "yes, this is something Clint would share with Bucky" and this quick and dirty and completely unedited fic (save for the transfer from notebook to new laptop) happened.

 

 

“So… apparently… on this day in 1883… the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to traffic… for the first time.”

“Jesus Barton, save your breath.” Please, Bucky silently added, glancing back at him. Clint offered him a tight smile and wiggled his phone in reply. Bucky nodded, trying his best to keep his face neutral before turning back to inspect what was left of the doorway. The blast that had forced the two of them into the room had brought down what looked like everything that had been above them into the hallway. At least the room they were in was still structurally sound – though how long that would last remained to be seen – he amended as an attempt to shift some rubble resulted in some ominous groaning and a little plaster dust drifting down from the ceiling. 

Behind him, Clint’s chuckle turned into a cough.

“Well this… is just… undignified. Coughing up… blood in the basement… of an AIM warehouse… on Queen Victoria’s 119th birthday.”

Bucky only barely resisted the urge to pace and scream – instead, whirling back towards Barton. “Barton, don’t you ever shut up?”

“When I’m asleep?” he replied, guileless smile utterly failing as he started coughing again. Bucky felt his heart leap into his throat and he crossed to Barton’s side.

“Barton, Clint. Please.”

“Woah, first name basis. And on… an op… must be serious,” Clint said. Looking up at him with only a hint of the usual twinkling mirth in his eyes. Bucky wasn’t sure when he’d begun to be so fond of that, but he had.

“I saw your mark when I was treating you,” Bucky began, pausing when Clint half coughed half chuckled in reply.

“Yeah? Weird one, huh? M’Dad called me… broken ‘cause of it. Well… other things too. What… color was it? Changes…” 

Soulmarks were always unique to a pair, each half born with the same image. They generally remained almost translucent in the elder of a pair until the other half was born. Then, they were a pale blue up until they met and solidified the bond, which would turn it red. A broken bond - usually by death, though tales had been told that a grave betrayal could also break one – turned the mark black. 

Bucky bit back on a white-hot flash of anger at Clint’s offhand remark about his father. No one should say such things about their child. “It’s not weird at all.” And then, working on a hunch, “And I’d be willing to bet it hasn’t changed color for a while, has it?”

“No,” Clint shook his head and looked down, almost guiltily. “Started going blue… two years ago.” 

Silently, Bucky worked open his vest until he could raise the undershirt up and expose his own soulmark. 

It matched Clint’s perfectly.

“Sonoffabitch,” Clint barked out a harsh laugh. “That’s just my luck. …figure out my soulmate… just before I die.”

“You are not going to die,” Bucky replied vehemently. “I’ve waited a helluva long time for this and I am not going to let you go.” He’d had so many things taken from him over the years, he wasn’t about to give up the most important one now that he’d found it.

“You aren’t huh?” Clint coughed a little and shook his head. “James Buchanan Barnes… gonna look death in the eye… and say no?”

“Yes.” He hadn’t felt this strongly about something in a long time. “Now, gimme your phone. You need to conserve your strength while the others dig us out. 

“Does this mean… when we pick ‘our song’ it’s… gonna be something… by Dylan?”

And sure enough, listed on the ridiculous ap was the fact that on this day in 1941 Bob Dylan was born. The corner of Bucky’s lips turned up into a tiny smile. “If we have to pick based on today’s birthdays – I think we should go with something by Patti LaBelle.” The minor coughing fit that Clint’s responding laugh brought about made Bucky ease himself even closer, doing his best to tuck himself around Clint.

“It won’t be the right day anymore, but how about when we get back I take you to a ballgame to celebrate the first night game?”

“Ballgame first date huh?” Clint smiled.

“Sure. We’ll even see how wound up we can get Steve talking about it.” Few things were as enjoyable as spectator sport in the tower as letting Steve rant about baseball.

“You’re on,” Clint said, tucking his head a little closer against Bucky’s neck. They were quiet for several minutes, listening to the sound of each other’s breathing and the shifting of the rubble above them. “I didn’t think… I would ever find… my soulmate. Glad it’s… you. Kinda bummed we won’t… get to… kiss though.”

“Bullshit – we’re totally going to kiss.” Bucky was starting to hear someone shifting things beyond the cave-in trapping them. He just needed Clint to hold on a bit longer. “We’ll watch something with uh…” he scrolled down the list of names for an actor or actress. “Something with Jim Broadbent in it.”

“S’cheating if his birthday… is today… and we don’t kiss… until later.”

“Then we’ll pick something else if it’s really that important.” Bucky could feel Clint’s lips smiling against his neck and felt more than heard the ‘okay’ he breathed in reply just before he lost consciousness. Thankfully the cavalry of War Machine and Iron Man broke through not long after, and before Bucky had gotten frantic enough to try and claw his own way out.

True to his word, around two weeks later Bucky pulled up the ap on his own phone and, after Clint had finished laughing himself silly, they ended up making out on his couch while Tom Jones sang in the background.

Their marks were red by the next morning.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Want to make a(nother) dubious choice (aside from reading this)? Follow me on tumblr at [redsector-a](http://redsector-a.tumblr.com/)


End file.
